Napoleon awoke from his nap and stretched luxuriously, relishing how good it felt to be in his own bed. He and Illya had been on a two – pronged affair; he had been interrogating a midlevel THRUSH operative in Sardinia while the Russian had been doing the grunt work of sabotaging said operative's plans in Croatia.
As affairs go, it had been comparatively easy for both of them, though it had taken Illya a week to complete his mission while Napoleon wrapped up his end in four days. He had returned to New York ahead of his partner and had given his oral report to The Old Man who was so pleased, he had promised that once Illya returned, they would have two weeks vacation to spend with their daughter.
Illya had flown in yesterday afternoon and had stopped to pick up Leona Nicole from the Greers' before coming home. He had left Leona with Napoleon so that he could go make his report to Mr. Waverly. The two of them had spent the better part of the evening playing with the two-year-old before putting her to bed.
Napoleon got up and after heading to his bathroom, he stepped into the hallway to find out what his partner and child were doing. He could hear Illya talking softly as he approached Leona's bedroom. He paused at the partially opened door to see the Russian rocking the sleeping child in his arms. His heart filled with emotion when he heard what Illya was saying.
"Your life will not be like my life, Leona Nicole. I will do what I have to do to make it so. You will grow up and have a good life. I will love you always, Daughter." He must have sensed he was being observed because he looked back at Napoleon and smiled. He placed the sleeping child in her crib and joined his partner in the hallway. "I truly missed her while I was gone," he said as he headed toward the kitchen to get his vodka from the freezer.
"As did I, Partner Mine. If you had told me last year that you and I would adopt and raise a little girl, I would have told you that you had lost your mind. Now look at us. I heard what you said. Her life won't be like yours. Or mine. It will be better. We will make it better. She will have our love always.
Illya's smile lit up his face. "Yes, she will."